Nick Watney

Nick Watney
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name Nicholas Alan Watney
Born (1981-04-25) April 25, 1981
Sacramento, California
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Henderson, Nevada[1]
Career
College Fresno State University
Turned professional 2003
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
Former tour(s) Canadian Tour
Nationwide Tour
Professional wins 10
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 5
Asian Tour 1
Web.com Tour 1
Other 3
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament 7th: 2010
U.S. Open T21: 2012
The Open Championship T7: 2010
PGA Championship T12: 2011

Nicholas Alan Watney (born April 25, 1981) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. The highlight of Watney's career to date is his victory at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship. In July 2011, Watney broke into the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career, after his victory at the AT&T National, placing him tenth in the world.[2]

Early career

Watney was born in Sacramento, California. He played his high school golf at Davis Senior High School in Davis, California. He played collegiate golf under his uncle Mike Watney at Fresno State University, where he was a three-time All-America golfer.[3] Mike did not offer his nephew a scholarship to Fresno State; Nick had to walk on to the team. He turned professional in 2003, following in the footsteps of his uncle, who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s.[4]

Professional career

In 2003, Watney's first professional victory came at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial on the Canadian Tour. The next year he played on the Nationwide Tour, and after winning the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship, Watney earned qualification for the PGA Tour.

In 2007, after two years of slow progress, Watney won his first PGA Tour title at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. This victory took Watney into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. He got his second tour win at the 2009 Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, with a one-stroke victory over John Rollins, taking him to his highest position yet in the World Golf Rankings, number 76.

In the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Watney had a three-shot lead going into the final round. However, he shot a final round of 81, which dropped him back to a tie for 18th place.[5]

Watney won the biggest tournament of his career to date and his first World Golf Championship at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in March 2011. He entered the final round trailing by two strokes, but shot a final round 67, including a run of four birdies in five holes in the middle of the round, and finished with a birdie at the notoriously difficult 18th, to record a two-stroke victory over compatriot Dustin Johnson.[6] Watney admitted in an interview afterwards that he had dwelt on finishing 2nd at Doral, in the same tournament two years before, when his putt on the 18th finished a couple of inches short of the hole.[7] After the victory, Watney moved up to number 15 in the World Golf Rankings.[8]

In July, Watney won for the second time in 2011 at the AT&T National by beating K. J. Choi by two strokes. The victory owed much to his third-round score when he set a course record 62 around Aronimink Golf Club, beating the previous record set coincidentally on the same day, which Chris Kirk and Steve Marino held briefly with joint 63s. Watney shot a 27 on the back nine, which tied the second lowest nine-hole score ever recorded on the PGA Tour. The record is held by Corey Pavin who shot 26 at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee in 2006. During the final round Watney did not record a single bogey, making a number of crucial par saving putts to hold off the challenge of Choi and capture his fourth PGA Tour title.[9] This win took Watney to the top of the FedEx Cup standings, ahead of Choi, and into the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career. He finished the 2011 season ranked third on the PGA Tour money list.

During the 2011 President's Cup, he defeated K. J. Choi on the final day to give the United States team a distinct advantage over the International Team coached by Greg Norman. The four-day match play tournament was played in Melbourne, Australia and won by the American team 19–15.

During the first round of the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club, Watney made a double eagle on the par-five 17th hole to become only the third man to record a double eagle in U.S. Open history, the others being Chen Tze-chung in 1985 at Oakland Hills and Shaun Micheel in 2010 at Pebble Beach.[10]

In August 2012, Watney won the first of the four FedEx Cup playoff events, The Barclays, at Bethpage Black in New York. He came from two behind in the final round to win by three strokes over Brandt Snedeker to take the outright lead in the FedEx Cup standings. This was the first playoff event victory of his career. After Rory McIlroy won the second playoff event, Watney dropped to second in the standings and wound up in fourth place at the conclusion of the FedEx Cup playoffs. For the season, Watney finished in 22nd on the PGA Tour's money list.

In October 2012, after the PGA Tour season ended, Watney won the Malaysian CIMB Classic, an event on the Asian Tour (co-sponsored by the PGA Tour), with a final round, course-record 61.

In 2013, Watney finished second at the BMW Championship, fourth at the Farmers Insurance Open, ninth at The Barclays and tenth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and the Wells Fargo Championship. For the season, Watney finished 24th on the PGA Tour's money list.

In 2014, Watney finished fifth at the Wyndham Championship and eighth at the Barracuda Championship. With only two top-10s and five top-25s, Watney dropped to 106th on the PGA Tour's money list.

In 2015, Watney finished second at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, seventh at the Farmers Insurance Open and tenth at the AT&T Byron Nelson. With three top-10s and eight top-25s, Watney rose to 55th on the PGA Tour's money list. Watney only played in five events the following season due to a herniated disc in his lower back. He will play the 2016–17 season on a Major Medical Extension.

Personal life

Watney's cousin is journalist Heidi Watney.

Professional wins (10)

PGA Tour wins (5)

Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
FedEx Cup playoff event (1)
Other PGA Tour (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Apr 22, 2007 Zurich Classic of New Orleans 69-67-68-69=273 −15 3 strokes United States Ken Duke
2 Feb 8, 2009 Buick Invitational 69-69-71-68=277 −11 1 stroke United States John Rollins
3 Mar 13, 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship 67-70-68-67=272 −16 2 strokes United States Dustin Johnson
4 Jul 3, 2011 AT&T National 70-69-62-66=267 −13 2 strokes South Korea K. J. Choi
5 Aug 26, 2012 The Barclays 65-69-71-69=274 −10 3 strokes United States Brandt Snedeker

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Oct 31, 2004 Nationwide Tour Championship 69-64-71-69=273 −15 3 strokes United States Brett Wetterich

Asian Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 28, 2012 CIMB Classic1 71-65-65-61=262 −22 1 stroke United States Robert Garrigus, United States Bo Van Pelt

1 Co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour, but unofficial money event.

Canadian Tour wins (1)

Other wins (2)

Results in major championships

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Masters Tournament DNP T11 19 7 46 T32 T13 T44 DNP
U.S. Open CUT T60 CUT 76 CUT T21 CUT CUT DNP
The Open Championship T35 DNP T27 T7 CUT T23 CUT CUT DNP
PGA Championship CUT DNP CUT T18 T12 CUT CUT T33 T30

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 4 7 7
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 3
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 4
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 4
Totals 0 0 0 0 2 9 30 18

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMargin of victoryRunner-up
2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship 2 shot deficit −16 (67-70-68-67=272) 2 strokes United States Dustin Johnson

Results timeline

Tournament20072008200920102011201220132014
Accenture Match Play Championship DNP DNP DNP R16 R16 R16 R32 R64
Cadillac Championship DNP DNP 2 T26 1 T17 T49 WD
Bridgestone Invitational T61 DNP T36 T16 T23 T19 T44 DNP
HSBC Champions – – 5 T21 T33 T16 T31 DNP

WD = withdrew

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. ↑ "What they said: Nick Watney". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Week 27 - Nick Watney Moves Into The World Top 10 With Victory At The AT&T National". Official World Golf Ranking. July 4, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  3. ↑ "PGA Tour Media Guide – Nick Watney". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  4. ↑ Berkovich, John (August 22, 2005). "The journey of Nick Watney". e-sports.com.
  5. ↑ Kaplan, Thomas (August 16, 2010). "Like 3rd-Round Leader, Round of 81 Is Lost in Shuffle". The New York Times. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Watney comes up big to win". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. March 14, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Nick Watney wins WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral". BBC Sport. March 13, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Week 11 – Nick Watney Wins The WGC-Cadillac Championship And Jumps To World Number 15". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Two-shot win for Watney". Sky Sports. July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  10. ↑ Whitmer, Michael (June 14, 2012). "Notes: Nick Watney nails double eagle: Only the third one in Open history". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
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